SUEZ is partnering with TerraCycle and acquiring 30% of its activities in Europe to develop innovative collection and recycling programmes in Belgium, Finland, France, the Netherlands, the UK and Sweden.

This partnership brings together TerraCycle’s collection programmes, which focus on community engagement, and SUEZ’s expertise in waste recycling and recovery. It will offer individuals, businesses and local authorities new solutions for recycling waste that was previously not recyclable in order to transform it into new secondary resources.

TerraCycle is an internationally recognised company that develops selective collection systems for the recycling of more than 100 specific hard-to-recycle waste streams (disposable items, flexible packaging, office supplies, beauty products, oral care, used coffee capsules and cigarette butts) currently not handled by traditional recycling channels. Active in 20 countries, TerraCycle partners with mass market companies, brands and local authorities to implement recycling programmes tailored to these post-consumer products and their packaging.

Nearly 60 million collectors are already working with TerraCycle, either through:

collection programmes set by volunteers, “sponsored” by companies or local authorities (collectors register on TerraCycle’s website and are awarded points that are converted into donations for the organisations of their choice),

or recycling services paid by companies such as “Zero Waste Boxes.”

Through this partnership, SUEZ is expanding its range of services in Europe with innovative voluntary collection methods and additional recycling channels for all its customers, particularly for products that need complex packaging and therefore require very specific collection and sorting solutions. All the waste collected will be reused or recycled into new products thanks to SUEZ’s recycling expertise.

“We are delighted to embark on this innovative partnership with TerraCycle. Its aim is to recycle more and more waste, even the most complex, by relying on the commitment of everyone – including individuals, local authorities and businesses – wishing to transform waste into new resources for an even more circular and more virtuous economy in Europe,” says Jean-Marc Boursier, SUEZ Deputy CEO for the Recycling and Recovery business in Europe.

“Our programmes are among the most innovative for promoting recycling. The partnership will expand SUEZ’s public-facing recycling opportunities, while speeding up TerraCycle’s development in Europe. With SUEZ’s expertise, TerraCycle will offer more customised recycling solutions tailored to various waste streams,” explains Tom Szaky, CEO of TerraCycle.

David Palmer-Jones, CEO of SUEZ recycling and recovery UK, said:

“SUEZ’s investment in TerraCycle allows us to harness the combined skills of both companies to deliver innovative, creative and scalable solutions which tackle problematic and emerging waste streams in the UK and across Europe. SUEZ’s investment in TerraCycle will benefit UK customers both today and in a post Brexit future.

“The UK remains a key European market both for SUEZ and TerraCycle, and a market where, through innovation and collaboration such as this investment, so much more waste material discarded by business and industry could be put to better use.

“Using the knowledge of both companies, we can ensure that even the most complex and challenging waste streams are put to good use in a sustainable, long-term and economically viable way – whether its coffee pods, cigarette butts, laminated biscuit wrappers or the next, as yet unknown, generation of tricky-to-recycle products.”